Monday, December 31, 2012

49 Degrees North Ski with the Lathrops

New Year's Eve day we headed up to 49 Degrees North.  We were meeting Justin, Kristin, Layne and Lucy up there.  It is rather difficult to meet someone on a ski hill when you don't drive together.  We could not find them and they could not find us.  We stopped for lunch then got back on chair one and guess who we saw below.  The kids and Justin and Kristin.  We shouted down to them and they rode up the chair and met us at the top of the mountain.  Kristin and Justin are expert skiers (they are truly amazing) and Layne and Lucy are on their way to be the same.  I can't believe how good the girls ski.  Lucy is three and has no harness or anything.  She is turning and easily stopping.  Layne is hard to keep up with already and she is seven.  I tried to get a video of them and asked them to stop and I would go down and video.  They didn't.  We tried again and everyone was stopped up the hill and I skied down.  I pulled out my camera and said GO!  I got a message on my camera that said the SD card was locked.  I yelled STOP but no one heard me.  I tried to fix it fast and my hands were freezing. To unlock it there is a tiny little thing on the side of the card you have to slide.  Couldn't get it done and everyone was down the hill.  Lesson learned to check that before you want to take a picture.  There will be more chances.  Lucy was getting tired so we headed to the lodge and visited with everyone and ate more food.  They come very well prepared. Lots of food. I finally got a smile out of Lucy!
 Hydrate hydrate Layne!
 Justin was fixing the girls some lunch.
 Mike was chillin' and relaxin' talking to Justin about hunting.
 Layne didn't get her beautiful smile all the way out.  When I see my face next to this young girl I look old.  I think I am supposed to though.  She is only 7 and I am 59!
 Grandpa and Lucy!
 Hi Kristin you look like you are up to something.
 AHHHHH
 Wow!  Great silly face Layne.
Glad we connected with this group.  We love them and love spending time skiing with them even if it was only one run this time.  Next time we will tear it up together!

Saturday, December 29, 2012

49 Degrees North Chewelah, WA Ski Day

These pictures were the day before the ski day.  Mike and I were taking his old car to Elk (finally) to get it fixed so we could sell it.  Mike knows someone there who has a shop and he does a great job.  On the way we had a guest appearance from a little doe!  
Beautiful animals. I keep thinking I would like to try hunting but I don't know if I could aim and shoot at a deer.  I just like firing the rifle at a target.
I love the looks of this church!  Finally got a decent picture to post.  Or maybe I got a second or third decent picture to post.
 Drove up to the unload your skis area and found Mike and Cameron manning the fort.  So friendly.  Carman even remembered me from the last time I was there.  The employes at 49 are so friendly!!!  Makes it even a better place to ski.
 This is Sherry!  She works in the marketing department at 49.  ONE of her duties is to ski around and take pictures.  Fun!  Also extremely friendly.  I wanted to meet her because she had emailed me and my new friend Joe took me to find her.  I keep interrupting employess while they are eating and working. Sorry!
Wow!  Way better this time.  Last ski trip I grabbed my old skis which aren't that old so they worked fine.  Mike called it an aneurysm moment.  I have those now and then. Way better with these skis. Easier on the knee joint I need replaced.
 Yes, you are seeing correctly.  They are who they look like.  Shelly had told me that the nuns were skiing and I wanted a picture of course.  My first run I went up to the chair lift 2 and there they were.  I asked if I could use their picture on the internet.  They said yes as long as I was appropriate.  No problem there.  I rode up the chair lift with one of them and we had a nice little chat.  She did not know who the other Jackie Gleason was though because her parents took the TV out of their home.  No loss for sure.  I think that TV needs to be off way more than on!
 I rode with the sister on the right up the chair lift.
I liked this picture but Mike didn't.  He thought it was dreary. Oh well!  The sun shining through the fog.  The light ALWAYS shines through the darkness.  Just a little different perspective I guess. 
I warmed up my legs on chair 2 then up to the top on chair one.  I took one of my favorite paths.  Silver Ridge to Silver Queen.  I had to look up the names of the runs.  After skiing at 49 for a million years, well maybe that not long because I am not that old, I should know the name of the runs.  Anyway, did that several times.  The last two were non-stop.  15 minute ride up the chair and 7 minutes down.  Yes, I timed it sort of.  I am getting it back for sure.  I felt so much better this time.  Love these pictures of the mountains looming over the fog!  In real life they really looked beautiful.  God's creation for us to enjoy.
I went after the bell on that run and rang it.  Really, it is a requirement to try and ring one of the bells along the runs at 49 Degrees North. Not sure what happens if you don't and I don't want to find out.  :-) Maybe they send out the snow snakes or maybe there is a trap door along the runs or maybe workers hide in the trees to make sure you are ringing at least one and if you don't ...:-)
You ski down into the fog.  See the people?  They are headed to fog and so am I!  It was a fabulous day even with fog.
On the way up to 49 I saw an eagle soaring around.  Policemen don't like it if you text and drive so I figured driving and trying to take a picture of a flying bird might not be a good idea either.  Always using my head aren't I!  So I decided to STOP and take pictures of the eagles relatives.  I am pretty sure these birds are related to the one I saw, they look almost exactly alike.  Maybe mom and dad because the one I saw was smaller.  I am pretty sure these don't fly.  Wings probably clipped unless when we all go to sleep they take off and come back to their perch in the AM.

Guess who I found on the way home.  Some grand kids, their friend and my daughter.  They live in Deer Park so it was on the way home.  I couldn't resist stopping to see them.  Their mom does so many fun things with them.
 Lucy and Kristin
 Ella is a friend of Layne's and the whole family.
Kristin wanted to be standing right by Lucy when she went up the ladder.  It was slippery and her boots would slip a bit.  Safety first.  Every time Kristin would touch her Lucy would tell her to let go of her.  Independent and she is fearless.  Scary for a mom and grandma!
 Layne
 Lucy
 Kristin, a kid at heart, sort of like her mom, had to get in the action.
 The girls call their dog Roy Boy!
Lucy kept telling me she was stuck and I would say stuck again?  I would walk over to help her get started and she would take off.  Fun game.
 Kristin's turn

 My turn.  The kids can't have all the fun.

The snow comes right up to the bottom of the slide so there is no way to stand up when you land.  I think this is a good landing.  10 for style points.
Kristin would toss a snowball and the girls would try and catch it on the way down the slide.  Layne was successful.  The other two caught part of the snowballs.  The rest flew into pieces.


Time to go home and Layne managed to have everyone else drag the sleds.  She moved slow enough that everyone else grabbed them.  She said it was OK because she was the only one that caught a snowball.  Another great day!  What a good life I have been given!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Christmas 2012

Happy Birthday Jesus.  

6 months of healing today.  Christmas 2012.  The best Christmas present ever.  I was bubbling with joy this morning.  First thing on the list was Christmas socks.  I am sure Katie was excited about the case for her swim goggles in her sock she just hadn't finished that beautiful smile.  I snapped too soon.  
Mike is showing our Christmas tradition of cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs in the morning.  After socks of course.  Easy fast breakfast!
Gross.  Katie wanted to know if Mike was saving the cinnamon roll around his mouth for later.  He said, no he was saving it for the dogs.  Rocky licking the cinnamon roll off Mike's face.  Icky! Icky!
A total of three new ornaments for the tree.  Mike wondered where I would put them but there is always more space on the Christmas tree!
HMMM, I wonder what is in this box!  What could it be!
A coffee mug you can plug into the lighter plug in your car.  The gift was from Katie!  Mike loved it and so did I because he has been using a mug Katie gave me a couple of years ago daily because it keeps the coffee very warm.  I would look for it at home and not there.  Mike had it.  Now I can use my own mug.  Nice gift Katie for both of us.
Guessing!
A triathlon mat!!!!  Great present.  No sandy feet after a swim and no sand or dirt in my bike shoes.
Get a little sweaty and sticky after the triathlon but already checked out of the hotel?  Use the shower pill!  Wipes of the sweaty and sticky for the drive home. Thanks Katie!
A night out from my husband!
This was one excited young lady.  A bike trainer from Mom and Mike!

Sporting the WSU flag she got from Keri!
No White Flags at Christmas!
The master chef of the household cooked the turkey this year.  It turned out the best ever.  He went to the store to pick up a fresh turkey he ordered and no turkey.  They had some organic fresh turkeys for $4.00 a pound though.  They gave Mike one for the same price as the one he ordered.  It really made a difference in the taste! Notice Mike still has his nose strip on from sleeping!
Katie chilling in THE LOUNGE.  Some call it my office but I call it a lounge.  It has a couch in it for heaven's sake.  Offices don't have couches.  My family reluctantly calls the room THE LOUNGE sometimes.
Ken and Mike working on the turkey.  Ken loves to cook and was a big help to Mike.
Dave and John!  Neighbors we invited for dinner.  Wow, are these a couple of nice men!
4 men in the kitchen.  What!!! You might want to copy this picture and save it. Might not ever happen again. Pretty sure it doesn't signal the end of the world but it was pretty amazing and cool.
Dinner is just about ready to be served!
Sammie was nervous with all the people at our house.  She loved Leola and wanted to be friends with her.  Leola didn't mind Sammie on her knees at all!
A Merry Christmas for sure!